Pocket-closer.



Patented Feb. 3, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEBT l.

J. lM. FLEGLE POCKET CLOSER.

APPLICATION FILED 51111.23, 1912.

E A HNEl/'.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH Co,. WASHINGTON. D. c.

J. M. PLEGLE.

POCKET CLOSER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 2s, 1912.

Patented Feb. 3, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

mwa/56655,'

coLUMBlA PLANOGRAPH co.,w^SmNG'roN. D. c.

JACOB ivi. FLEGLE, or wnnsrnnenoviis, iuissounr.

POCKET-CLOSER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patent-ea Feb. 3,1914.

Application led January 23, 1912. Serial No. 672,988.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, JACOB M. FLEGLE, a citizen of the United States, residing at lVebster Groves, county of St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a new and useful Pocket-Closer, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in pocket closers, and has for an object to provide a convenient and effective device for holding the open or free end .of pockets yieldingly closed, thereby preventing articles 'placed within thepockets from being lost therefrom, and yetpermitt-ing the ready access to the pocket lby the wearer of the garment of which the pockets are a part.

Another object of the invention is to prevent the ready tampering with the contents of a pocket constructed in accordance with my invention, the arrangement being such that it would be very difficult for an exterior agency to extract articles from pockets including my improvementwithout detection by the .wearer of the garment of which the pockets are a part.

To these and other ends l have produced the novel arrangement and combination of elements hereinafter illustrated, described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout the several views; Figure l is a detached perspective view of my improvement in complete form ready for applicaton to a pocket formed in any character of garment; Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is ay vertical transverse sectional view showing the fabric of the pocket with the closing device in position; Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view, substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view of the upper part of a pocket with the pocket closing device in place and illustrates the details of the preferred manner of placing the pocket closing device in inner pockets of a garment; Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view, illus; trating the details of one end of the` plate which constitutes one portion of my invention. Fig. 7 is a horizontal sectional view,

' substantially on the line 7 7 of Fig. 6, illustrating clearly the rounded bearing portion for the elastic element; and Fig. 8 is a-vertical elevation of a portion of a garment vwith apocket formed therein, part of the fabric being broken away to lillustrate clearly the manner of applying my improvement.

In the accompanying illustrations 1 indicates a strip formed preferably from some suitable flexible metal The strip .1 is curved, as will be clearly apparent by reference to Figs. 1 and 4; so that. when the device is placed in position near the upper portion of a pocket formed in a garment, the concave surface of the-strip 1 will conform closely to the body of the wearer, permitting the device to be worn without discomfort and without altering the shape of the garment. The said strip 1 is slightly widened at each end to form a relatively wide downwardly extending ear 2, the purpose of-which is to prevent the strip from turning when placed in position in the garment in the manner hereinafter explained. A notch or channel is formed in the strip l by stamping or cutting out a small portion of each end of the strip and turning the metal 4backwardly against the convex surface of the strip, thus forming a rounded seat 3 upon which the elast-ic element 4 rests; the ears or projections 5 which form the sides of the channel prevent vertical movement of the elastic element, thereby retaining it in proper relation to the strip 1. Perforations, or holes, 6 are formed in each end of the strip 1 near the upper and lower edges thereof; thus providing means, whereby the strip 1 may be aliiXed or sewed to one of the pocket walls. The elastic element 4 is preferably in the form of a band and may be made of any suitable material such, for insta-nce, as india rubber, elastic tape or the like. The length ofthe elastic band 4 should be less than that of the strip sothat vwhen the band is placed in the channels formed by the projections 5 the band will ybe stretched or put Y under tension, thereby holding one `strand of the elastic element yieldingly against the convex surface of the strip, the other strand of the band being clamped to the strip by garment. The strip is then bound or aiiiXed in position by passing strands of thread back and forth through the perforations 6 as clearly appears at 9, (Fig. 8). A band or binding of fabric may be placed over the strip7 or the strip may be merely incased in a hem formed in the fabric wall l() of the pocket.

It will be apparent, as has been suggested7 that the strip being of flexible material may be curved so as to conform to the body of the wearer of the garment7 thus preventing any discomfort in its use or bulging or mis-shaping of the garment to which it has been applied, The strand of the elastic element which is free and rests yieldingly against convex surface of the strip is incased in a hem ll formed in the outer wall l2 of the pocket or may be bound against the wall by a separate binding if desired. The outer strand of the elastic element being under tension, the tendency7 thereof would be to draw the wall of the pocket, to which it is aiiixedj toward the opposite wall containing the strip. Apparently7 therefore, the normal position of a pocket equipped with my improvement will be closed7 preventing the articles contained within the pocket from accidentally slip ping out and being lost therefrom. As the elastic element 4 is yielding, access to the pocket may be readily gained by merely manually separating the walls of the pocket and placing the hand within, the pocket closing immediately upon the hand being withdrawn, as will be readily understood.

In using the device in combination with pockets formed on the inner part of a garment, the position of the strip may be reversed., as shown in Fig. 5. In this view it is apparent that the strip is inserted in kto t neatly about the body of the wearer.

Havino` thus fully described my invention, what I cIaim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- In a pocket closer, the combination of a garment, a lining, an inner pocket wall and l an outer pocket wall between said lining and said garment and having slits near each side thereof, a metal strip having its upper edge in the same transverse plane throughout between the inner pocket wall and the lining, a portion at each end of said strip doubled backwardly upon said strip effectively to form a rounded band seatJ a projection above said band seat, an ear integral with said strip near each end thereof below said band seat and extending downwardly relatively a considerable distance, said projections and said ears having holes therein above and below said band seats, stitches passing through said holes and through the inner pocket wall, an elastic band passing through said slits across the entire inner side of said strip and being` seated in said band seats7 and clamp elements separate from said strip encircling said strip and the inner part of said band remote from the ends of said strip, substantially as specified.

In witness whereof, I have signed this specification inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JACOB M. FLEGLE.

Witnesses F. IV. Rossnorr, L. C. KINGSLAND,

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

